SA Cryptocurrency Start-Up VALR Details Its Plans Of Expanding Into The Rest Of Africa
SA Cryptocurrency Start-Up VALR Details Its Plans Of Expanding Into The Rest Of Africa. VALR a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in South Africa, today announced that it has raised $50 million (over R750 million) in Africa’s largest ever crypto funding round. This values the company at $240 million (R3.7 billion).
The proceeds of the raise will be used primarily to expand across Africa and into other emerging markets such as India, and to bring more products and services to its growing base of global customers. VALR is also hiring extensively across all areas of its team. VALR offers its customers the ability to safely buy, sell and store Bitcoin and 60 other cryptocurrencies—the widest selection of any platform in Africa—at some of the lowest fees in the world. VALR has processed over $7.5 billion (R115 billion) in trading volume since its launch in 2019 and now serves over 250,000 retail customers and 500 institutional clients from across the globe.
“Society’s financial tools should unite us, not divide us. That’s why I’m very excited that VALR is helping to build a financial system that recognizes the oneness of the human race. There is no longer any room for doubt regarding the impact crypto assets are having on our global financial system,” Farzam Ehsani, VALR CEO and Co-Founder said on the company’s website. “We already help VALR’s customers enter this new world of crypto from the traditional financial system using their USD or ZAR and I’m very excited that this round of funding will allow us to serve so many more across Africa and the world.”
VALR plans to onboard many more institutions from the traditional financial system, including the largest banks, insurers and hedge funds, to assist them with the infrastructure needed to enter the crypto asset market. “The world is on the precipice of huge financial change. Crypto assets will become more and more pivotal to all our lives. VALR is here to help bridge our customers from the old financial system to the new. Whether you’re an individual or an institution, we look forward to serving you,” Ehsani concluded.
